leecho7
Partition Master
I managed to beat Gears of War several times over the Thanksgiving break. At first, the game was a blast to play. The cover mechanic was good (although not as good as Rainbow Six: Vegas in my opinion), and the action was intense. The game probably featured the best co-op mode I've played in a while, and the multiplayer death matches are great as well. The graphics are amazing and really shows the power of Next-Gen hardware. Even on a standard definition TV, everything was crisp and clear. There were only a few spots in which the game stuttered a little bit, but over the game was silky smooth.
I played this title with a friend of mine, who is a huge Halo fan. I told him this is 'the Halo Killer'. When he picked up the controller and started moving, he started to complain that there was no 'jump' button. He described that in Halo you could jump. So the entire fate of a video game rests on a simple game mechanic that allows the character to jump? I'm pretty sure in a firefight, the last thing you want to do is jump. Although in reality, this game might not be the 'Halo Killer' that I want it to be (I absolutely hate Halo), my friend and I really had a blast playing the game through... even though there was no jump button.
This is where co-op mode shows it's strength. The game is tough on the normal setting, but overly easy on the easiest setting. In single player, getting through the game is a pain because your buddy AI's are dumbasses. However, if you have an actually buddy playing with you, it's an entirely different story. You really have to work as a team, cover each other and watch each other's backs. One person will have to give suppressing fire while the other flanks the enemy and so on and so forth. Some of the firefights really force you to take cover, only allowing you to pop off a couple shots during limited opportunities. Don't play this game thinking you can run and gun, strafe around the enemy, and pop off head shots like a dude choking the chicken. This game is tough.
With a buddy, the game will probably last you about 5-7 hours. Some people might say that the game is way too short. It is, but for once, I don't see that as a bad thing. I was getting kind of tired of the whole game mechanic near the end of the game. I personally thought the game ended at the right time, giving you a sense of accomplishment, without making you tired of the gameplay. The multi-player death matches are pretty good too. However, it is only up to 8 players. I personally would have liked to see armies of people taking cover and dishing out flanking manuevers. But I understand that it probably couldn't have been done because of the sheer graphical quality of the game. However, the multi-player death matches are still very entertaining. It incorporates the same cover mechanic the single player provides, and you really have to work and communicate with your squad in order to be successful. The maps are small, creating a very intense atmosphere. There are other multi-player options, but I did not get a chance to fully explore those yet.
A good shooter is just as good as it's weapons. Gears of War doesn't disappoint. You have your standard fare of assault rifles, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles, but there are a couple of neat weapons that are offered in the game. The grenades, for one thing, are pretty neat. They have spikes around them. If you are close enough to an enemy, you can literally show a grenade into the poor dude's armor, duck for cover, and watch as the poor guy explodes in a bloody gory puddle of bloody gore with chunks of more gore and insides(This game is rated M by the way). There is another weapon called the torgue bow. It is an bow and arrow type of weapon, and each arrow is equipped with an explosive device. Shoot an arrow into a guy, or into a wall nearby an enemy, wait a couple seconds and watch the explosion occur. Imagine Rambo with his C4 tipped arrows taking out Apache Helicopters with a Bow. On one of your rifles, there is a chainsaw bayonette attachment. Get up close to an enemy, hold down the melee button and watch as you rip some arse in to a bloody mess. Watching that happen never gets boring no matter how many times you do it (especially in multi-player).
The story is... well pretty much little. The characters are easily forgettable too. Imagine a bunch of frat boys on steroids. These guys have like 30" necks. It is obvious that the developers only created the story just to drive the action forward. However, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This game is all about fast paced, intense action, and it delivers that very well.
For those of you who are thinking about picking this title up, I would definately recommend it.
I played this title with a friend of mine, who is a huge Halo fan. I told him this is 'the Halo Killer'. When he picked up the controller and started moving, he started to complain that there was no 'jump' button. He described that in Halo you could jump. So the entire fate of a video game rests on a simple game mechanic that allows the character to jump? I'm pretty sure in a firefight, the last thing you want to do is jump. Although in reality, this game might not be the 'Halo Killer' that I want it to be (I absolutely hate Halo), my friend and I really had a blast playing the game through... even though there was no jump button.
This is where co-op mode shows it's strength. The game is tough on the normal setting, but overly easy on the easiest setting. In single player, getting through the game is a pain because your buddy AI's are dumbasses. However, if you have an actually buddy playing with you, it's an entirely different story. You really have to work as a team, cover each other and watch each other's backs. One person will have to give suppressing fire while the other flanks the enemy and so on and so forth. Some of the firefights really force you to take cover, only allowing you to pop off a couple shots during limited opportunities. Don't play this game thinking you can run and gun, strafe around the enemy, and pop off head shots like a dude choking the chicken. This game is tough.
With a buddy, the game will probably last you about 5-7 hours. Some people might say that the game is way too short. It is, but for once, I don't see that as a bad thing. I was getting kind of tired of the whole game mechanic near the end of the game. I personally thought the game ended at the right time, giving you a sense of accomplishment, without making you tired of the gameplay. The multi-player death matches are pretty good too. However, it is only up to 8 players. I personally would have liked to see armies of people taking cover and dishing out flanking manuevers. But I understand that it probably couldn't have been done because of the sheer graphical quality of the game. However, the multi-player death matches are still very entertaining. It incorporates the same cover mechanic the single player provides, and you really have to work and communicate with your squad in order to be successful. The maps are small, creating a very intense atmosphere. There are other multi-player options, but I did not get a chance to fully explore those yet.
A good shooter is just as good as it's weapons. Gears of War doesn't disappoint. You have your standard fare of assault rifles, grenade launchers, and sniper rifles, but there are a couple of neat weapons that are offered in the game. The grenades, for one thing, are pretty neat. They have spikes around them. If you are close enough to an enemy, you can literally show a grenade into the poor dude's armor, duck for cover, and watch as the poor guy explodes in a bloody gory puddle of bloody gore with chunks of more gore and insides(This game is rated M by the way). There is another weapon called the torgue bow. It is an bow and arrow type of weapon, and each arrow is equipped with an explosive device. Shoot an arrow into a guy, or into a wall nearby an enemy, wait a couple seconds and watch the explosion occur. Imagine Rambo with his C4 tipped arrows taking out Apache Helicopters with a Bow. On one of your rifles, there is a chainsaw bayonette attachment. Get up close to an enemy, hold down the melee button and watch as you rip some arse in to a bloody mess. Watching that happen never gets boring no matter how many times you do it (especially in multi-player).
The story is... well pretty much little. The characters are easily forgettable too. Imagine a bunch of frat boys on steroids. These guys have like 30" necks. It is obvious that the developers only created the story just to drive the action forward. However, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. This game is all about fast paced, intense action, and it delivers that very well.
For those of you who are thinking about picking this title up, I would definately recommend it.
Last edited:
